Elevator cage



Filed Oct. 22,' V1928 2 Shee'cs-Sheet 1 T. ULMANN ELEVATOR CAGE April'19, 1932.

Filed Oct. 22, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 19, 1932 UNT STATESTHEODORE AULMANN, OF DES MOINES, IOWA ELEVATOR CAGE Application ledOctober 22,1928. Serial No. 314,189.

The object of my invention is to provide an elevator cage of simple,durable and inexpensive construction, of that type designed to elevateand lower carrier cars, such as used in connection with mining coal andother minerals, and to provide in connection with the cage improvedmeans whereby a carrier car may be automatically released from'itslocleed pof sition on the cage platform as the car is deliveredtherefrom, and to provide means for automatically locking' a second carbeing moved to position on said cage, and when so locked in position,the cage may be moved to its elevated position and dumped and againreturned to its normal position in the bottom of the shaft, at whichtime the car is auto-V matically released and' a new to replace thesame.

A further object is to provide in a dumping cage improved means wherebya car may be automatically locked to said cage and retained in a lockedposition as the cage is operated.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained, as hereinafter more car permitted fully set forth, pointed outin my claims, and illustrated' in the accompanying drawings, in j 30which: A

Figure 1 isa plan view of the bottom portion of a cage showing myimproved locking mechanism applied thereto, a portion ofthe top of thecage platform broken away.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional viewA taken on the line 2 2 of Figure1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the'` line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of m im roved v :n Y e0 cage mounted 1n thebottom end of an elevator shaft y The numeral 10 indicates an elevatorshaft having vertical guide members 11. The lower ends of the members 11terminate near the bottom end of the shaft 10. The lower end of theshaft 10 is connected with entryways 12, one of which is provided withan inclined tra ck 13 and the other with a horizontally arranged track14. Said tracks 13 and 14 are supported above the bottom of the shaft a`plates 23 for reinforcing said flanges, The

slight distance. A cage 15 is slidably mounted to and between the guides11. Said cage comprises a frame work 16 designe'dtosup-V port ahorizontally arranged floor 17. The side edges of the frame 16are'lprovided withl J5 vertically arranged channels 18 designedv totravel on the guides 11.

' The said frame 16 is pivotally connected to the channels 18 by meansof pivots 19 to provide a dumping cage. The frame 16 is" locked to thechannels 18, by mechanism `not illustrated which is o f the ordinaryconstruction and forms no part of my present invention, so that as thechannels are elevated and lowered, the frame 16 will also be ele# 5vatedand lowered.l The upper ends of the channels 18 are connected tothe upper endY of the cage in the usual manner.

The floor 17 is supported by horizontalj beams 20 and 21, while the topof the lioor is provided with spaced angle irons 22. The outer face ofeach of the upwardly projectflanges Aof said 'angles is provided withupper edges of the flanges and the plates 23 5 are Vdesigned to formrails upon which the wheels 24 of a car 25 are supported.

The floor 17 is of a width equal to the distance between the outer facesof the upward-A ly extending plates 23 so that spaces 26 are`v 80provided between the plates 23 and the side members27 of the cage.-

Rotatively mounted in the central portion of the beams 20 is a shaft 28,while a shaft 29 is 4rotatively mounted in the beams 21. The

` inner' end of each of the said shafts 28 vand 29 is provided with ahub 30, each of said hubs having a pair of spaced arms 31 projectingfrom each of its opposite sides.

Supported on the outer'face near the forward end of each of the plates23 is a pair of outwardly extending bearings 32. Each pair of saidbearings is designed to support a shaft 33 on which is mounted anupwardly projecting wheel stop 34. The lower endd of each of the wheelstopsl 34 is provided with a downwardly extending arm 35, the lower endof each of said arms 35 having one end of a link 36 connected thereto,while the opposite ends of the links 36 are connected to and between theouter ends of the arms 31. The wheel stops 34 are designed to besupported normally in an upright position in alinement with the wheels24, and in front of the front wheels 24.

The rear ends of the outer surfaces of the plates 33 are provided withspaced brackets 37, which are designed to support shafts 38, each of theshafts being provided with an upwardly extending wheel stop 39 havingdownwardly extending/'arms 40. TheA lower ends of said arms arepivotally connected to links 41, which in turn are connected toiarms `42mounted on the inn-er end of the shaft 29. The links 41 andthe arms42lare similar to the links 36 and the arms 3l. Each of the stops 39 isslid'ably mounted on the shafts 38 and are yiel'dably held to theirforward limit of movement by means of springs 43. The said stops 39 aredesigned to` engage the rear sides of the rear wheels 24 when Vin theirnormal upright positions.

lt will readilybe seen that iff the shafts 28 and 29 are rocked in aclockwise direction, as illustrated in Figure 3, the free ends of thearms 31 'and 42 will be rotated@ in a clockwise direction, causingthelinks 36 and 41 to be moved inwardly, which in turn will cause the upperends. of the wheell stops 34 and 39 to be moved outwardly out ofthe pathof the wheels 24. Springs 44 are provided for normally retaining thestops 34 and 39 at their inner limit ofV movement..

The forward end of the shaft 28 is provided with a lever 45,y while therear end of the shaft 29 is provi-.ded with a lever 46. Both of saidlevers 45 and 46 extend toward the the same side of the device, and havetheir free ends inclined downwardly and outwardly, as-illustrated bydotted lines in Figure 3, whenI the stops 34 and 39 are in an uprightposition. l

Supported in the bottom of the shaft 10 is a. pair ofbrackets 47 one ofsaid brackets being provided with an upwardly extending trip arm 48,while the other bracket 47 is provided with an upwardly extend-ing triparm 49. The upper end of each of the trip arms provided with a laterallyextending plate 50. The lower ends of each of the arms 48 and 49 have aninwardly extending weight 51 which normally supports the upper ends offthe arms 48 and 49 to a position slightly inclined inwardly from avertical line. The outer ends ofthe arms 51 are designed to rest on thebase of the bracket 47 when the arms are in the said position.

The upper ends of said arms are located immediately below the free endsof the arms 45 andv 46 so that as the cage platform is lowered in theshaft, the free ends ofthe arms 45 and 46 will engage the upper ends ofthe arms 48 and 49, and cause the shafts 28 and 29 to be rotated and theupper ends of 'the wheel stops 34 and`39 to be moved outwardly.

The upper ends of said stops are moved out of the path of the wheels atthe time the cage has reached its downward limit of movement.

Pivotally connected to the left hand plate 23, as shown in Figure 2, isa bell crank lever 53 having one arm 54 projecting slightly above theplate23 and tho other arm projecting downwardly, the lower end of whichis pivotally connected to one end of a trip bar 54a, the free end ofwhich is slidably mounted in a slot 55 in the end plate 56a. The freeend` of said bar 54a is adapted to swing to an inclined position, shownby dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The plate 23 is also provided. with a bell crank lever 56 having an arm57 designed to rest slightly above the upper edge ofthe plate 23 and adownwardly projecting arm pivotally connected to a link 58, whichextends through a slot 59 in the end plate 60. The free end ofthe link58 is also adapted to swing upwardly and downwardly. The lower ends ofthe arms 53 and 56 are connected by a link 61, having a spring 61a toyieldably hold the said link in its left handl position, so that theupper edge of the arm 57 will rest movably below the upper edge oftheplate 23 with the arm 54 above said plate.

The outer end of the bar 54a is designed to rest on the upper edge ofthe plates 50 of the arm 48 as shown by dotted lines inV Figure 2, whilethe free end of the. link 58 is designed to rest adjacent to the frontface of the plate 50 ofthe arm 49, when the cage is at its lower limitof movement.

rThe operation of my device is as follows: Alssuming that the wheels ofthe ear 25 are supported on the rails 22 between the wheel stops 34 and39, and that the cage is being, lowered in the shaft, the free ends ofthe arms 45 and 46 will engage the upper ends of the trip arms-48 and49, causing the shafts 28 and 29 to herotated and the upper ends of thestops 34 and 39 moved outwardly from alinement with the wheels 24.

rlhe filled car 62 is supported on the tracks 13 vand is automaticallyreleased' by downward movement of the cage by mechanism not illustrated,so that the rear end of the ear 62 willl engage the forward end of thecar 25 and push the car 25 rearwardly to the track 14. The car 62l ismoved by gravity. As the rear wheels of the car 62. engage 'the arm 54,the lower end of the lever 53 will be moved' to the right, as shown inFigure 2, which in turn will move the links 6l and 58, causing the triparm 49l to be moved rearwardly from under the arm 46. rl`he bar 54a willalso be moved to the right, causing its free end to disengage the upperedge of the plate 50, and to drop into position adjacent to the backface of said plate, as shown by solid lines in Figure 2. The lower endof the arm 56 will also be moved to the right, causing the upper edge ofthe arm 57 to be elevated above the plate 23.

rlhe free end of the arm 46 is then moved downwardly to its inclinedposition by means of the spring 44, and at the same time causing theupper ends of the stops 39 to return to their normal upright position inalinement with the oack wheels of the car 62. Said stops stop the caragainst further movement, as the car 62 is moved rearwardly, at whichtime the rear wheels will enga-ge the upper edge of the lever 57,causing the lower end of the arm 56 to be moved to the left, as shown inFigure 2, which in turn will move the upper end of the trip arm 48forwardly to disengage the lower end of the lever 45, which will permitthe shaft 28 to be rotated and the upper ends of the stops 34 moved intoposition in frontof the front wheels of the car 62, and thereby lock thesaid car to a central position on the cage platform, until the cage hasbeen elevated and the car dumped and again returned to its position inthe bottom of the shaft, at which time the above operation is repeated.As the lower end of the arm 5S is moved to the left, the lever 53 willbe operated and the arm 54 elevated.

rThus it will be seen that l have provided a mechanism designed to beused on elevator cages, whereby a car supported thereon will beautomatically unlocked, to permit the car to be removed, and providedwith means whereby a second car will be automatically locked in positionthrough the movement of the car, as it is placed on said cage.

rlhe springs 43 provide means whereby the shock of the momentum of thecar will be greatly reduced, as the stops 39 are permitted to yieldrearwardly. The springs are of such tension that the car will be againmoved forwardly, as the shock is relieved, to position with the frontside of the front wheels against the stops 34.

IThe springs '43 also take up any slack movement between said stops, sothat the car is firmly held against movement while the cage is inaction.

I claim as my invention:

l. An elevator comprising a. supporting frame, a pair of spaced railsthereon, front and rear wheel stops pivotally mounted ad- -jacent toeach side of said rails so that this upper ends will swing outwardly,said stops having downwardly extending levers, a pair of longitudinallyextending and alined rock shafts, a rock arm carried by each of saidshafts, links connected with the free ends of said rock arms and thelower ends of the downwardly extending arm of said wheel stops, springsfor normally retaining said wheel stops in their upper and inner limitof movement, a lever connected to the outer end of each of said rockshafts, a trip lever supported beneath the lower end of each of saidlevers, a pair of bell crank levers pivotally connected to the outerface of one of said rails, one of said levers having a forwardlyextending trip arm and the other lever having a rearwardly extendingtrip arm, the lower ends of said bell crank levers being connected by alink, a bar pivotally connected to the forward end of said link andsupported in position to engage the forward trip lever, and a secondlink extending rearwardly and connected to the lower ends of said bellcrank levers and designed to engage the upper end of the rear triplever.

2. An elevator comprising a supporting frame, a pair of spaced railsthereon, front and rear wheel stops pivotally mounted adjacent to eachside of said rails so that their upper ends will swing outwardly,yieldable means for normally retaining said wheel stops at their upperand inner limits of movement, means for actuating said stops outwardly,said means including a pair of horizontal pivot levers, -meansoperatively connecting said levers with said stops, a pair of bell cranklevers pivotally connected to the outer surface of one of said rails,one of said levers having a forwardly extending trip arm and the otherlever having a rearwardly extending trip arm, the lower ends of saidbell crank levers being connected by a link, a bar pivotally connectedto the forward end of said link and supported in position to engage theforward trip lever, and a second link extending rearwardly and connectedto the lower ends of said bell crank levers and designed to engage theupper end of the rear trip lever.

Des Moines, Iowa, August 3, 1928.

THEODORE AULMANN.

